Ian | The Scarlet Reader

Ian Coyne

Coyneandbill

The Scarlett Reader

This post focuses on the use of roses displayed in ch. 5-8

Roses and The Scarlet Letter

The color red sure is a key part of The Scarlet Letter. Heck, it’s even in the name of the book! Though it may seem that the scarlet letter itself is the only important red thing in the book, I believe there is something else that has been hinted at since the first few pages. That thing would be roses, which have a tendency of cropping up every few chapters or so. But why does Hawthorne include them? What is he trying to say? I believe I have an answer to both of those questions.

First, let’s define a rose. A rose is a red flower that grows in rose bushes. It’s popular for its beauty as well as its color, but it also has thorns along its stem, a less popular attribute. In the context of The Scarlett Letter, some parallels between roses and the story begin to appear. Hester, much like a rose, is defined (at least by others) by the most prominent physical characteristic: the red letter on her dress. But, just below the surface, she is a complicated individual who is staunch in her beliefs, much like the much-overlooked thorns of a rose. Despite being mostly negative, it is undeniable that Hester shares a popularity, or rather infamy, in the Puritan community, much like a rose’s popularity amongst lovers.

However, Hester is not the only one that can be likened to a rose in The Scarlet Letter. Her daughter, Pearl, has been compared to one as well, like when she “began to cry for a red rose” (Hawthorne, 98) and told Dimmesdale that her mother found her in a “bush of wild roses near the prison door” (Hawthorne, 104). Further comparisons to Pearl and a rose are drawn when she is entirely dressed in red when she is take to the governor’s mansion. These comparisons further show that Pearl is much like the “rose” that her mother is. She is defined by the tincture of her mother’s sin, but below the surface she is intelligent and resistant to opposition.

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/29600000/roses-roses-29610910-1920-1200

SOURCES

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Custom House.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 52. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Governor’s Hall.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 63. Print.

Ian Coyne

Coyneandbill

The Scarlet Reader

This post focuses on the hypocrisy displayed in ch. 1-4

Puritan Hypocrisy: A Fundamentally Flawed Utopia?

So I just got done reading a few chapters of this novel, The Scarlet Letter, which seems to also double as a sleeping aid. I have been known to exaggerate, but let it be known that there is no hyperbole in this statement: this novel makes looking up five syllable words in the dictionary seem like a good time. I guess when you see a name as antique and elegant as “Nathaniel Hawthorne” strewn across the cover, you can’t really expect anything particularly exciting. OK, enough of this pre-emptive book bashing, let’s get down to business.

Let us begin by talking about what the Puritans set out to do in their little slice of heaven in Massachusetts. If you have read my earlier post (I hope you have), you’ll know all about the Puritan’s reasons for coming to the future home state of the Boston Red Sox and what means they took to accomplish such a feat. However, I did not define specifically what the Puritan’s sought to create in this new world they founded. Their aim was to establish a utopian society: a completely homogenous, pure society that strictly abided to the Puritan code. So, when the Puritans landed upon the Massachusetts Bay beaches, they began to build and manage their settlements with the intent of making them perfect. Dissent, sin, and any transgression that could be interpreted as being against God was a big no-no and was not tolerated by the Puritans. With this established, let’s move on to what the Puritan’s utopian pipe dream has to do with The Scarlet Letter.

Our protagonist, Hester Prynne, is one of those aforementioned sinners that wouldn’t be tolerated. For her sin of adultery, she was prosecuted and thrown into an old jail cell within the town. Here we see our first example of hypocrisy being displayed by the Puritans. If this settlement was truly a utopia, why would they need a jail cell? If the founders knew that everything was going to be perfect form the start, surely they wouldn’t have built a jail cell, would they? By simply having this building in their town, the Puritans unwittingly show how fundamentally flawed their society is. They realize that sin is inevitable among their people, but still believe that creating their sinless utopia is plausible despite this.

The hypocrisy doesn’t stop there: rather, it increases as the story progresses. As Hester is brought through the market to be stood upon the platform, the “stern-browed men and unkindly visage women” (Hawthorne 52) stare at her as if she is something evil and deserving of disdain. This seething disgust is yet another hypocrisy of Puritanism displayed within the novel. Instead of following the age-old teachings of their prophet, Puritans choose to cast stones upon the sinner with their eyes, even though doing so is considered sinful itself. Through its treatment of sinners, Puritan society makes everyone in the society sinners themselves.

Even the spiritual leaders aren’t safe from the hypocrisy that plagues Puritan society. As I read about the clergymen and Dimmesdale’s efforts to get Hester to confess, I realized their actions contradict yet another important part of Christianity: forgiveness. Instead of comforting her and accepting her as a sinner, Dimmesdale and his cohorts stress that the only way she can redeem herself is through punishment and the ousting of her fellow sinner so that he too may be punished. Dimmesdale even says that “earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation,” (Hawthorne 63) meaning that taking punishment for sins on Earth will help one pay for his sins, making them more holy when they reach heaven. Now let’s analyze this for a second. So Dimmesdale is basically saying that it is the duty of them, the Puritans, to dole out physical punishment for sins, right? Last time I checked, God is considered the ultimate authority on what constitutes a sinner and whether or not they truly deserve punishment or salvation. It seems to me that the Puritans have gotten so deep in self-righteousness that they feel fit to carry out the will of God without any say from the big man himself. The Puritans really do dive into the deep pool of hypocrisy when they begin to play God amongst their constituents.

Being exposed to this hypocrisy in so little pages makes me feel like The Scarlet Letter will have its fair share of criticism of Puritan society. While it may be a pretty dry read at times, I think I’m going to enjoy noticing all the little cracks in Puritan culture that Hawthorne points out as I follow the story of Hester Prynne.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Market-Place.” The Scarlett Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 52. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Recognition.” The Scarlett Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 52. Print.